Geologic formations are used for many purposes such as hydrocarbon production, geothermal production and carbon dioxide sequestration. Boreholes are typically drilled into the earth in order to access the formations. Prior to a borehole being drilled, forces or loads in the rock mass of a formation are in equilibrium with each other to keep the rock mass in static equilibrium. When the borehole is drilled, the loads must be evenly distributed to adjacent rock and materials in order to keep the formation in static equilibrium. Keeping the drilled formation stable generally requires a support pressure be applied by drilling mud in the borehole. The proper support pressure is related to the pressure of the formation fluid in the pores of the formation (i.e., pore pressure). If the applied support pressure is insufficient, the formation surrounding the borehole may become unstable and collapse into the borehole damaging equipment and causing costly delays.
During drilling, the pressure of the drilling mud is maintained within a pressure window by a mud program. It is important that the pressure window be accurately determined in order to efficiently drill the borehole and prevent damage. Hence, it would be well received in the drilling industry if estimates of pore pressure were provided with an uncertainty that could be used as input to the mud program in order for the pressure window to compensate for the uncertainty.